When Paranoia Twists Fate
by Writer under training
Summary: Emiya Kiritsugu is paranoid. He believes that he is being hunted. Emiya Shirou is a naive boy who wants to fulfill his father's dreams. The young man realizes his father's fears were only confounded when he spots a suspicious looking priest jog by his house daily. The struggle for the grail is now set in a AU world without magic. Pairings: Shirou Multi, Kiritsugu X Irisviel
1. Chapter 1

**A bit of an introduction: **To the people of FSN fandom, this is my first FSN fanfic, if you don't count by Fate-Code Geass project. This story is essentially an AU fic or better known as a crack fic. Crack doesn't essentially mean comedy. This story carries more or less the same amount of seriousness as the original Nasu-work, except the concept of magic doesn't exist in this AU.

**Characters and Shipping Warnings: **The characters in this story are from both Zero and Stay Night. Perhaps, a few of the F/HA characters may appear as I read 50% of it before I stopped as I wanted to wait for the full translation.

The shipping will be Shirou Multi (can be called Harem, but it's a strong word), Kiritsugu X Irisviel and perhaps some one-sided Taiga X Kiritsugu.

The ages will remain the same as the canon except for Illya's. I'll mess with her age a bit to make her Shirou's younger sister.

The story will have a lot of things in common with the canon, but it would be really different.

Now, let's begin the party.

**Prologue**

**The Fire and the Chalice**

**Ten years ago…**

27th April, 2003. A huge explosion that took place in a chemical industry took the lives of two hundred people. The factory produced Caprolactam, the production of which involved the oxidation of few dangerous chemicals. The vapor leaked through a crack in the pipeline that seemed to have been tampered from the outside. The vapors spread to the nearby residential district, and soon caught fire.

The middle-aged man watched the destruction before him with mouth that was wide open and eyes that could only cry at the sight of the disaster.

A huge fire engulfed the entire region like a wildfire. Buildings were no longer buildings, they turned desolate. Some collapsed, while some were crumbling down slowly. Many charred bodies could be found inside the burnt apartments, as the fire hit them in the middle of the night. Some, who woke up after the explosion and tried to escape, died under the collapsing structures and were buried inside the rubble. Some died, thanks to the poisonous smoke that was born from it.

The man tried to save whoever he spotted in the destruction, but only in vain. Whoever he touched were already dead and dissolved into ashes.

The man caught his head in despair as he screamed and cried. All of that destruction would normally move a few people. Some people would simply run away from it, in order to save their own lives. Some would be terrified.

But for the man named Kiritsugu, what filled his heart was despair and agony that resulted from guilt. Yes, he was guilty as he was responsible for all the destruction around. He was responsible for two hundred people who would never see the dawn again. He was responsible for destroying the opportunity to live for two hundred people. And worse, there would be a high number of casualties among those who would survive. When they curse god for the fate they have been put through, he would have to bear the weight.

"Everything…" his breath was ragged. "Everything…," his eyes turned to the golden object in his hands. "Everything for this…" he muttered with disgust. "Goddamned thing." He wanted to throw the object into the fire as it was the reason the flames took birth in the first place.

It was then did he hear the faint cry for help.

"S-S-Save m-me…" a voice yearned for his help. It was so faint that he could barely hear it over the cackling of fire around him.

Kiritsugu didn't waste a moment after that. Tossing the golden chalice into the rubble nearby he ran to the source of the voice that called for help.

In his life, he never had a happier moment. His body that was by now, more than exhausted gained new energy from nowhere. His heart that slowed down, drowning with the hope he was steadily losing, rose up.

A boy, who was no more than eight, was lying on the rubble. His hand that was risen up in the air, yearning for help, told Kiritsugu that the boy was alive. But as Kiritsugu approached him, the boy's consciousness began to fade, his hand drooped down, and his brown eyes were slowly closing to embrace the fate he believed was given to him.

Kiritsugu clasped the boy's hand. He saw the boy struggle his eyes open to see him. "You're alive," Kiritsugu cried as he felt the boy's hands against his cheek. "You're alive," he repeated. He was happy, as though, it wasn't the boy who was saved, but Kiritsugu himself.

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Five years ago…**

It was a rainy day in Fuyuki City. The evening sky turned into a gloomy, fading blue color. The hilly area behind Ryuudou Temple was damp, and the beautiful flowers that decorated the pathway were drowning in the rainwater.

Two men raced through the path that took them deep inside into the Kishima forest. They were drenched, for having been in the rain for more than an hour. But the men hardly paid any attention to it.

"Do you think this is the right place?" The red-haired man asked as they trudged their way through the damp mud.

The black-haired man who led the way stopped. He turned back, giving the redhead a devious smile. "There's no need to panic, Ryuunosuke," the man's hands carried something the size of a five year old child, covered in a blanket filled with red stains. "The police won't be able to track us all the way up here."

"What are we doing near a temple anyway, Mr. Bluebeard?" The redhead's careless attitude slowly returned to his face, now that he felt they were safe.

The man named Bluebeard had a crooked smile on his face. The man had a crooked face to begin with. He had bulging eyes that seemed as if they were pop out of their sockets anytime. He had a hunched back, and his nails were as long as a beast's claws. At a glance, no sane person would think he was human, but he indeed was biologically, if not by character.

"Haven't you heard, Ryuunosuke?" The man narrowed his eyes. "About the graveyard behind Ryuudou temple."

"Graveyard," Ryuunosuke blinked. "Here?" He looked around. The place certainly didn't carry the atmosphere of one.

"That way," Bluebeard pointed at something distant with his chin.

The duo raced in the direction the monstrous looking man pointed. Soon, they have indeed hit upon a graveyard, if one could call it one. It contained no more than a couple of grave stones.

"Hiding a dead body in a graveyard," Ryuunosuke looked delighted. He snapped his fingers and gave Bluebeard a thumbs- up. "You're so cool, man!"

The said man however wasn't in the mood to listen to his assistant's praise. He moved around the perimeter, scanning for something. The redhead noticing this asked, "What are you searching, man?"

"Hmm," The Bluebeard hummed impatiently. His eyes shone with delight when he spotted something. "Ryuunosuke," he pointed to a particular spot that was seemed to have been dug up and then tilled flat.

He anticipated there would be something like that. Normally people who couldn't afford a ceremony dig up a hole themselves and bury the body. The local cemetery wouldn't allow this, but the secret spot behind Ryuudouji was a perfect spot for this. He'd hide the dead body in his hands in the one spot no one would ever look, someone else's grave.

The redhead who saw that understood the Bluebeard's idea. "Let's get into digging then," he said as he soiled his hands with the wet mud and began digging. The black-haired man then began the same after setting the body he carried in his hands aside.

As the two men raced their hands through the mud, pulling out as much as possible before the rain water clogged into it, their hands soon hit with a hard object underneath. The two men exchanged glances as they both felt the solid object underneath the thin layer of mud.

Either of them had the same expression on their faces. A wondrous hope that they might have hit on a big treasure. They continued to dig at a faster pace until a golden surface showed itself amidst the dirt.

Like a hungry wolf, they plowed the rest of the mud around the object, and soon the Bluebeard found himself holding a golden cup in his hands.

"Ryuunosuke," his voice shook as he felt the precious object. The cup was made of pure gold, that didn't carry even a single scratch despite being buried in the mud. It was studded with diamonds of various colors giving the chalice a magical glow when the dim sunlight fell upon it.

Either man looked at each other, speechless. They both knew what this meant.

They just hit the jackpot.

* * *

**Presently…**

The Emiya House was a simple two-storied building that stood in the residential district of Miyami amidst a couple of other middleclass houses. The neighborhood was known for its peacefulness, especially at six in the morning.

There was a knock on the door.

The lean, tall man walked over to the entrance. But instead of simply opening the door, he lifted up one of the curtain to see who was waiting outside. The man carried a sense of fear in his eyes, and his hands constantly shook as if he were trembling from something.

There was no one near the door. It made the man frown. Why would anyone knock the door and go away without waiting for someone to answer it? Could it be one of his enemies who were sent to kill him? Could it be that they've placed a bomb at his porch and ran away?

As his thoughts drifted off in that direction, the front door opened abruptly. Terrified, the man took the nearest weapon, a flower vase and turned towards the door and found a redhead who was looking at him strangely.

"Shirou," Kiritsugu sighed in relief, but then his muscles stiffened when he realized what his son was about to do. "Don't go out."

"Hmm?" The redhead raised an eyebrow.

"Someone knocked the door," Kiritsugu said in a voice that was almost a whisper. "They could've left a bomb to kill us."

The redhead wide opened the door, not heeding his father's advice. He stooped down and took something that was left on the ground by the door. "It's just the milkman, Jii-san." The redhead showed him two packets of white milk. "They don't normally wait till you open the door."

* * *

Eighteen year old Shirou couldn't help but smile at the face his father made after that. The old man felt slightly embarrassed that his fears were just another of his over-imaginations. But more than that there was relief on his face as something dangerous didn't happen.

"I'll start making breakfast," Shirou told walking towards the kitchen. Shirou was the chef in the house not just because he liked cooking but because Kiritsugu's cooking was terrible. He walked into the kitchen, wore his apron and resumed his post. "You're up so early today," he said when he saw Kiritsugu walk into the living room.

The black-haired man didn't pay much attention to him as he was deep in thought.

Emiya Kiritsugu was a strange man, even according to his son. He had a disheveled black hair that he had long since forgotten to comb or trim. His beard was the same except Shirou forced his father once in a month to shave. He had a physical structure that showed he was well built in his younger days, and had black eyes that constantly scanned everything around him. His hands always shook because of his anxiety issues.

The house was silent, unlike its daily routine. But Shirou smiled because the silence would end about in—

"Good morning!" The front door was barged open with a great force and a familiar woman stormed inside.

Shirou walked out of the kitchen to greet his favorite glutton homeroom teacher. "Morning, Fuji-nee!"

It was Saturday that day, but Fuji-nee made it a habit to visit them every day even if it were a working day or not. Of course their usual breakfast crew had one more person, but the said person usually didn't show up on weekends.

Shirou expected his Jii-san to greet Fuji-nee as usual, but the old man instead shifted his attention to Shirou. "Shirou," he asked. "Didn't you lock the main door, earlier?"

"I left it open because Fuji-nee was going to come anyway," Shirou replied. The old man put a disappointed face and walked to the main entrance to close the door.

"Is he still doing that?" Fuji-nee asked as soon as Kiritsugu left.

Shirou sighed, "He thought someone was going to bomb us today."

The woman's ever cheerful smile disappeared at that. "We should show him to the psychiatrist again."

Shirou nodded at this. Both he and Fuji-nee had already showed Kiritsugu to a psychiatrist despite him claiming that he was perfectly fine. Kiritsugu had a sense of paranoia that was deep inculcated in his mind and played with his imagination, the psychiatrist deduced.

Shirou had no clue as for why his otherwise healthy father turned into someone who mistrusted each and every person in the neighborhood. He hardly set his foot outside the house anymore, and whenever he spoke to someone he ended up giving them strange threats.

It all began five years ago, Shirou remembered. On a rainy day…

* * *

**Five Years Ago…**

It was a rainy day. Twelve year old Shirou stood by the window as he watched the rain drench everything outside. There were hardly any people on the road, as most of them preferred staying inside.

_"We bring this new from Shinto. A seven-year old girl has been kidnapped by two suspicious looking men. The police have last spotted them near the Fuyuki Bridge and have sent a search team for catching the two about four hours ago but nothing has been…"_

The news on the television disturbed Shirou. He wished if there was a way he could save the girl. But he knew there was nothing he could do to save her when the police themselves were having a hard time.

"Fuyuki's getting dangerous lately," nineteen year old Fuji-nee, who was watching the news, commented. "I hope Kiritsugu stays out of trouble."

"Where did Jii-san go?" Shirou asked, trying to put his mind away from the news.

"The same place he goes every time it rains hard," she said, not taking her eyes from the television. "I wonder what's so important in that graveyard for him. We should totally investigate it one day."

Shirou nodded.

At that moment, Shirou heard a clicking sound from the entrance. The noise from the incessant rain drops hit his ears, indicating that someone just opened the door.

"Kiritsugu?" Fuji-nee said, giving Shirou a glance.

Shirou immediately went for Kiritsugu's towel, which he left in his bedroom. As he collected the cloth and proceeded to the living room, he heard Fuji-nee exclaim. "Kiritsugu!"

The redhead hurried to the entrance and found Fuji-nee holding onto a collapsing Kiritsugu. "Jii-san!" Shirou threw the towel and jumped to help his older sister.

Shirou looked at the old man who was thoroughly wet from being in the rain for so long. But more than that, what Shirou noticed was the dreaded look on his face.

"Jii-san?" He wondered what happened to him. He scanned his father for any injuries, but found nothing obvious.

"I-It's gone," Kiritsugu's lips quivered as he repeated. "I…It's gone."

Shirou didn't know what was gone. Kiritsugu never answered the question. But since then, he spent less time in the house. The more time he spent searching for what Shirou didn't know, the more scared he became. Soon after that, Kiritsugu hardly ventured outside. A constant fear that someone was coming to destroy his family (if one could call an adopted son that) engulfed him.

Shirou was devastated because he never knew what haunted the man who saved him from the burning hell. He took it as his responsibility to repay his father the favor by looking after him.

But at the same time, the murders in Fuyuki escalated to a high rate. Women and children mysteriously disappeared one after the other. It was then, Shirou came to a resolve.

His father once told him he was a secret agent of some sort, but he never mentioned the details about it. Shirou didn't know what exactly it meant, but he knew that his father was some sort of hero.

Shirou resolved that he'd follow his father's footsteps and become—

An Ally of Justice.

* * *

**The chapter was rather short as it was just an introductory one. **

**In the next chapter, you will see how the hunt for the Grail begins as Uryuu Ryuunosuke makes a small mistake. **

**As the good reader might have noticed, I left Kiritsugu alive. It isn't just him, most Zero characters that died in the original canon will be seen alive in this fic. This story is just an AU story involving the same characters, but it doesn't necessitate that the story is similar in structure to the canon. The fire that happened ten years ago happens to be the only thing in common.**

**In this story, the golden chalice is a physical object that exists and not just rumored to exist. An object of such high historical value will obviously be hunted by more than one group. **

**Also, the servants will appear in the story as humans. Although they are essentially not the same as they are no longer Heroic Spirits, their personalities and characters remain more or less the same. For example, Bluebeard still likes to perform blasphemies against god.**

**Next Chapter: How it all began!**

**Happy Reviewing People! **

**W.U.T signing out.**


	2. How it all began

**Hi, here is the second installment of my story, When Paranoia Twists Fate. Before you begin this chapter, a small warning. The pacing in this chapter will be slightly messed up. It is so because this chapter is just another prologue to the actual story.**

**Chapter Two: How it all began…**

**The story till now**:

**Present: **Emiya Kiritsugu is a paranoid man who has a constant fear of assassination. His adopted son, Emiya Shirou and their friendly neighbor, Fujimura Taiga decide to take Kiritsugu to a psychiatrist.

**Five Years Ago: **Uryuu Ryuunosuke and the Bluebeard, two murderers who were planning to hide a dead body in the grave behind Ryuudouji accidentally stumble upon a Golden Chalice

**Ten Years Ago: **Emiya Kiritsugu rescued a nameless boy from a great destruction that killed two hundred people

**And now…**

**Ten Years Ago**

"You're alive," Kiritsugu muttered for the umpteenth time as he shook the boy from falling into unconsciousness. At last, his desperate search for someone alive had come to an end.

"W..W," the boy was trying to say something, but he couldn't. It was understandable because the boy barely survived a fire that has killed two hundred others. "Wat…."

"Water?" Kiritsugu realized. The boy didn't even have the energy to nod his head. Kiritsugu looked around, if there was any hope for water. There was none, he realized. His brain whacked as he considered any possible sources of water at that moment. Searching among the debris was a waste of a time. Most houses were too out of shape or on fire for him to risk that option either.

The river!

The river was pretty close from where he was. If he could climb down the slope beyond the railings on the road, then he could get some water for the boy to drink, he decided.

He scooted the boy into his hands and ran towards the main road that stood above the water. The breeze was relatively cooler alongside the river as it was somewhat away from the polluted sky. The road was empty, and was devoid of any living soul. There was a good reason; the road uphill was directly connected to one of the gas towers of the chemical plant. It must have been destroyed during the explosion.

He shifted his attention to the river that lay beyond the road. A steep, rough slope connected down to meet with the river. He attempted to carry the boy beyond the railings, but realized that was a bad idea when either of them slipped and fell back onto the road.

The boy was too heavy for him to lift, Kiritsugu realized. Or rather, his common sense corrected, he was getting weaker, long exposure to the poisonous gases was slowly getting to him.

The boy fell unconscious, and this time Kiritsugu couldn't do anything to put him awake. If he were to be left like that, he'd die pretty soon. There was no way he would allow that to happen. If only he could find a way to bring the water up instead. If he had something like a cup—

The man's thought froze at that moment. He placed the boy on the ground. "Please stay alive for me," he muttered before running back towards the scene of destruction.

A few minutes later, the boy was drinking water from the golden cup. The chalice was the source of destruction that happened, but at least it saved the life of a single boy. What he did could have been a sin, but Kiritsugu didn't care. All he wished was the boy to stay alive.

After that Kiritsugu decided not to destroy the cup. Not because it was valuable, but because despite the despair it caused him, it left him with salvation in the end. Despite the destruction it caused, it saved the life of the boy who'd be grateful for it forever.

It was a big mistake, he didn't realize until five years later.

**Five Years Ago**

Twelve year old Tohsaka Rin was disappointed with life.

She was the proud daughter of Tohsaka Tokiomi, a business magnet with a name that echoed respect throughout Japan, let alone Fuyuki. Rin was a perfect daughter for such a perfect father. She had perfect grades in school, and was also top in the annual sports competitions despite not being in any sports club. She was beautiful, a source of envy and admirations for most girls around her.

But that was only one side of the coin. The other side carried a very unhappy girl who lacked the freedom to venture out of her house alone, thanks to the guards who constantly tailed her. She couldn't attend tea parties when her classmates invited to. She couldn't go shopping with the neighborhood girls, and boys her age were terrified to even speak to her.

Rin always imagined an adventurous life. She wanted to hunt for mysteries like in the stories of Sherlock Holmes. She wanted to explore an island full of treasures with pirates and manage to lay her hands on a treasure box full of gold. Of course, since none of that was actually possible, Rin compensated it by searching for simple pleasures like searching for secret doors inside her house, reading through her father's letters to find something shady and what not.

She was good at what she did. Despite being a naughty girl underneath, she was an obedient daughter who respected and feared her father. The fact that the only words her father spoke to her were about how she should keep the family's name at the top, earn a good name for her father and make him proud only added to such fear. That's why she became an expert at going through her father's stuff without getting caught.

However, a thief can't always stay uncaught. It was around the same time when the rumors of the Holy Chalice, an article of historical importance that was supposed to be stolen on its way to the British Museum, was in the Fuyuki Black Market reached her ears too.

Such rumors were crossed out by most people because almost every corner of the world carried similar misinformation. But to Rin, who had nothing else to explore in her life took the rumors to heart and began searching in the only place she could explore, her home. She knew it was a silly thing to do, but she decided to do it anyway as she wanted to indulge herself in something or the other.

She broke into her father's personal room like she did umpteen number of times. But that day was the first time she ever looked at the safe. Her father's safe contained extremely important documents, rare jewels he collected during his trading. If something like the Holy Chalice would be in her house, her father's safe would be the place to hide it.

The safe was a six digit coded machine. The twin pony-tailed girl racked her brains about a possible answer. She licked her lips as she tried the digits 040296. Rin expected the security system to give her an error message as she didn't imagine her guess would click. But instead, the safe made a hissing sound as the door slightly opened, much to the girl's surprise. Knowing how great her father was, Rin expected him to put a complicated key, but all she had to do was input her birthday like she saw in a movie.

_'How clichéd,'_ the girl thought.

The young Tohsaka took a deep breath. She was about to open her father's safe, which was a terrible thing to do. But she deserved to open it, the girl thought. Because, she was smart enough to figure out the key. She caught the cold handle with her small hands and—

"Rin!"

A stern voice snapped the girl to attention. The girl left whatever she was doing and turned back like a perfectly trained soldier. Her legs became stiff, and her heart quivered, like her lips and her eyes.

The man she feared the most, and the man she didn't expect to be home at that time was standing before her. He was clad in an expensive red suit, his eyes which always carried kindness when he spoke to her were now filled with anger, and his eyebrows were drawn close into a frown.

"O-Otousama," her voice shook despite her trying to sound normal.

"What are you doing?" He asked, in an interrogating tone.

"I…I…" At that moment the girl's heart that was in utmost fright collapsed into sorrow. Her eyes became moist. She tried rubbing the tears away, as tears were a sign of weakness.

She felt him coming closer. The girl looked up, fear in her eyes. She expected the man to reprimand her for the grave mistake she committed. Much to her surprise, his frown disappeared. Her father placed a hand on her head, "Are you curious about what is inside?"

Rin had her head to the floor. She nodded with a yes.

"Then I'll show you what is inside," he said with a kind voice.

The girl looked at her father, amazed. "But," the man said, "Only when you are old enough to manage it."

She was slightly disappointed, but she was glad that he didn't punish her for it.

Needless to say, after that Rin never touched the safe.

* * *

"Man," Uryuu Ryuunosuke whispered into the man's ears as they neared the Pawn broker's shop in the shady street. "Are you sure about this?"

The partners in crime were in one of Fuyuki's shadiest areas, the black market in Shinto. The place got its name from the fact that it was indeed the black market of Fuyuki, and it stood at a corner of the Shinto region, away from the old Miyami.

The bluebeard stopped abruptly. Ryuunosuke who was following his partner ended up bumping into him. The Bluebeard then slowly turned around and narrowed his bulging eyes. "Do you don't trust me, Ryuunosuke?"

"I do, man!" Ryuunosuke was offended. He was a fan of Bluebeard's works. He was an artist he looked up to, in murder of course. "Fuyuki is a bad place to sell this," he pointed at the object hidden in the brown bag. "We can go to Tokyo. I have enough money for that."

The bluebeard only snickered at this. "You're underestimating me, Ryuunosuke."

"I do?" Ryuunosuke blinked, innocently.

"Hmm," the bluebeard nodded. "Now just follow me."

The two then proceeded to the Pawn Broker's. They entered the shop and found a stout man polishing a gold chain. When he noticed the two men coming inside, the broker looked at either of them, giving a suspicious glance.

"What do you want?" He said, pulling a drawer. He placed the chain he had been polishing inside.

Ryuunosuke watched the Bluebeard in interest, wondering how the man would deal with the broker. The ogre-like man placed the brown bag on the desk. The noise it made when he set it down obviously gave away that there was something heavy inside it.

The broker raised an eyebrow at this. The bluebeard had a smile on his face, "We have something to sell."

The broker shook his head. He stood up and opened the door behind him. "Come inside," he said.

Bluebeard exchanged a smile with Ryuunosuke before either of them followed the broker into the room behind.

"So," he said, turning the lights on. "What is it?"

Bluebeard clutched onto the object and pulled the bag down, exposing the sparkling gold chalice, that was studded with colorful diamonds. The diamonds sparkled with sunlight, making the object seem like it had dropped from heaven itself. It was slightly bigger than an ordinary cup used for drinking wine, but only big enough that its surface can be wrapped within two hands. There were many finer details like the engravings on the surface, words written in some unknown language and what not.

The reaction the pawn broker gave was that of astonishment, fascination and admiration. "Ah," he lost his breath just by looking at it.

When his brain slowly worked out of the shock, he looked at the two men before him. They obviously looked like some small-time criminals who couldn't have enough resources to steal something as wonderful as that marvelous piece of art. Just by looking at it, one could say that it was stolen from some precious collection or—

The broker's brain froze. Could it be—? He looked at the object once more. It was genuine, he could say by just looking at it. What was such a treasure doing in Fuyuki?

He decided to put the question aside. If the people before him were gullible enough and didn't know of its value, then he could buy it at an ordinary price.

"How much will it fetch me?" The man with bulging eyes asked.

The broker looked at the cup and pretended to think for a second. "Ten Grand."

"Ten Grand?!" The redhead looked jubilant, as he slammed the desk in happiness.

He expected the other guy to give a similar reaction. "No," he refused, much to the broker's surprise. "Ryuunosuke," he said standing up. "This man is trying to exploit us. Let's find someplace else."

"Wait," he clasped the man's arms. "I never said negotiations were closed, did I?"

The ogre alike threw him a cursory glance, to which the broker simply put his teeth out, trying to look as sincere as he could. "How much do you want?"

The person closed his swollen eyes, "A Hundred Thousand Yen."

"Hundred thousand?!" The redhead exclaimed, as if his partner was ridiculous.

But the broker however said, "Agreed."

Seconds later, Ryuunosuke and the Bluebeard were outside the store, the heavy bag still in Bluebeard's hands.

"A hundred thousand?" Ryuunosuke was overjoyed. "You're so cool, man!"

They have agreed with the broker that they'd make the transaction that night as the latter needed sometime to collect the money.

"We could set a workshop with that money," Ryuunosuke said. He spread his arms and exclaimed, "Then we could kill so many more people!"

The bluebeard snickered at this, "You're so gullible, Ryuunosuke."

"I guess I am," he scratched his hair, and gave his goofy smile. "If it weren't for you, I would have sold it for ten grand, man."

"No," Bluebeard paused his walk and turned back to the broker's shop. "Even now you're underestimating this item's value."

"Eh?" Ryuunosuke tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"That broker immediately agreed to part a hundred thousand yen when I asked," he said looking at the object in his hands. "Clearly its value is much more than that."

Ryuunosuke frowned, "Then why are we selling it?"

"Are we?" The bluebeard asked, giving the redhead a devious smile.

The redhead's expression widened at this. "Do you mean…"

"Something like this will stay valuable for years," Bluebeard grinned. "The buyer wouldn't yap much about it to his friends either. So, Ryuunosuke," the grin turned into a snicker. "Why sell it once? When we can sell it twice, thrice or maybe for the rest of our lives." The snicker then turned into a hysterical laughter.

Ryuunosuke kept exclaiming the word 'cool' throughout.

The next day, the news that a rich merchant was brutally murdered was seen in the news channels. The blame was put on the raging gang wars in Fuyuki.

* * *

**Present Day**

"Emiya Kiritsugu?" A cute-looking brunette, wearing a pink nurse's uniform called.

The redhead immediately rose up from the steel chair at this. "Jii-san," he nudged the older man, who was sleeping beside him, in a sitting position.

"Hmm," the man blinked his eyes open and gave Shirou a questioning look.

"The doctor's calling you," he said offering to help him stand.

Kiritsugu refused the redhead's offer, "I can stand," he grumbled.

Shirou smiled. His old man was slightly mad at Shirou for dragging him to the psychiatrist. It took herculean effort on his part and Fuji-nee's part to bring him to the hospital.

The nurse slowly led them to the doctor's chambers. A middle-aged man was seated inside, he was wearing a violet shirt over cream colored pants rather than the white uniform doctors wear. He had a smile that never seemed to disappear from his face.

"How are you doing Emiya-san?" The man greeted them as they walked in.

"Perfectly fine," Kiritsugu said, throwing Shirou a wary glance. The redhead smiled nervously as either of them settled down in the respective chairs.

The doctor chuckled at this, "It's funny how Shirou-kun gave the same reaction when you first brought him here."

Ironic it maybe, but Kiritsugu brought Shirou to the same place when he was still suffering from nightmares of the fire that happened.

Kiritsugu winced. But he managed to put a chuckle, "Children grow up."

"Ah they do," the doctor said, as he began examining Kiritsugu. Shirou noticed the blue gem on the doctor's ring as he wide opened Kiritsugu's eye to examine it.

_'That must have cost a fortune,' _the redhead thought.

But at the same time, the father also noticed the gem in the psychiatrist's hand. Kiritsugu suddenly pulled himself back from the doctor's grasp and then caught the doctor's hand abruptly. The movements suggested that he wasn't as physically frail as he looked.

"Emiya-san," the doctor was befuddled by the sudden move.

"Jii-san," Shirou panicked, wondering if his father was playing another of his wild imaginations.

"Where did you get this gem?" Kiritsugu barked, switching his trembling gaze between the doctor and the ring on his hand.

The doctor flinched. He tried to get his hand out of Kiritsugu's grasp, but the man put a surprisingly strong hold for someone who looked so thin.

"Jii-san stop," Shirou jumped between the two men. He pushed the terrified doctor away from Kiritsugu. "What are you doing?"

"That gem," Kiritsugu's hand shook as he pointed at the man's ring. "It's…It's…."

"It's what?" Shirou asked.

Kiritsugu dropped his finger, defeated. "It just looked like my wife's."

Shirou felt bad for his father at that moment. He only mentioned once that he had a wife and a daughter and that he lost both of them in an accident. Shirou never probed further on that matter as he understood how sad his Jii-san became at the mention of his wife.

* * *

Kiritsugu lied.

His wife never had such a ring. But he couldn't exactly tell his son where he had seen such a gem in his life. Because, if his son were to know the source of his fears then he would foolishly throw himself into the same gruesome hunt he was in, ten years ago.

He already knew his son had a strange sense of self-worth. Given the opportunity he was ready to throw himself for anyone else's life only because he felt he had a moral obligation to do so.

The Chalice's name was already the source of many dark rumors in Fuyuki. There was even a local tale about how two gruesome men carrying a golden chalice visited houses in Fuyuki randomly and then left only after killing all the family members. Most people believed the tale because there were indeed many unsolved homicide cases. Kiritsugu didn't believe it, but he knew every rumor had some amount of reality hidden in it. It wasn't the question of believing the rumor or not but the extent to which one should believe it.

"Jii-san," Shirou had a worried look on his face. "Are you okay?"

Kiritsugu nodded his head. "I miss my wife that's all," he said. It wasn't a total lie.

* * *

Shirou felt disgusted at himself. For all these days he had been with his father, he couldn't even figure out the reason behind his father's fears. His wife's death must have left him in terror, and he couldn't analyze the simple fact. Some hero he was.

"Shirou-kun," the doctor spoke. "It's better if you take your father home now. We'll have another appointment next Sunday."

Shirou nodded at this. "Jii-san," the redhead extended a hand to lift his old man up. Kiritsugu took his hand and rose up.

* * *

** Somewhere in the dark streets of Fuyuki…**

"This marks our fifth anniversary Ryuunosuke," the ever-murderous Bluebeard and his redheaded partner found themselves in the dark streets of Fuyuki again.

"We'll have a musical orchestra to celebrate it," Ryuunosuke said, waving his arms. "You get my drift?"

"Of course," Bluebeard closed his eyes as he smiled. In the five years of time, they have sold the Holy Chalice seventeen times already. Their victims were all gold merchants who have all lost their lives at the expense of their greed.

Either of the 'artists' were waiting for their prey to come. Some of them were gullible enough to come alone, while a few came with a couple of men as back up. None of them knew the kind of monster they were about to face and today's prey was no exception.

In the course of their five year journey they have developed better ways to sell the chalice. But most importantly, they realized it wasn't the cup's gold and diamonds but the historical value that earned them money. And so, they plucked out the diamond stones from it and sold them completely. They brought cheap stones later and fixed them to the cup. As long as the gold looked old and genuine, they had money. It also served Bluebeard the satisfaction to commit a crime using one of the holiest treasures in the world. It was a spit on god's face, something he gladly liked to do.

At around twelve in the night, when the full moon was illuminating them, when the dangerous side of Fuyuki woke up, two men appeared before the murderous duo in the dark outskirts of Shinto. The road was surrounded by the forest on either side. It was built as a path to connect to a few private mansions that have been built in the outskirts of Shinto. Most of these private mansions belonged to foreigners who've come and settled in Fuyuki in the late 90s.

"We've come as promised," one of them was fat; he was the gold buyer they had contacted. The other wore a black-suit that matched well with his black shades. The man in the suit lifted the brief case in his hand. Balancing it on his left palm, he opened it with the right hand. The green currency were neatly stacked and lined up.

"Good business isn't it?" Bluebeard smiled, as he opened the same brown cover he had been using from five years. "Here is my end of the bargain." He showed the immaculate golden cup.

The man carrying the briefcase and Bluebeard walked towards each other. Bluebeard gave the man another smile as they approached. "Do you want to take another look at the cup before we transact?"

The man contemplated for a second. "Sure," he said.

Bluebeard slowly slid the brown cover, exposing the holy cup. He looked at the cup one last time, "I'll really miss such a marvelous presence in my sinful abode." He slowly shifted his glance to the man before him, who stooped to examine the object. "Or not." A vicious smile crept on his face.

Before the man could even react, he lifted the golden cup and rammed it against the man's skull. The heavy cup landed on the man's head with a blunt sound. Blood spilled on the Bluebeard's face as he lifted his hand to ram him again like a barbaric animal.

The golden cup was bloodied once again; it satisfied the monster more than the act of killing itself. He then shifted his glance to the stout man who would probably be freaked by—

For once even Bluebeard was surprised. The stout man instead of running away like the pig he was, simply stood there. The dead body in his hands slowly slumped down and fell to its back.

"I knew the two of you were sick bastards," the stout man said, taking out a gun. "God knows how many times you killed with that thing."

"Do you think you can stop with me a gun?" Bluebeard smiled. He faced a similar situation before. He overpowered a man with a gun and killed him with his own weapon. It came from the fact that he wasn't afraid to be at gun point.

"Of course I know you're wearing a bulletproof jacket under your robe," the stout man clicked the gun. "But your head isn't."

"Can you aim at my head properly?" Bluebeard asked. "If you miss once, you'll be dead," he said playfully.

"Ah don't worry about me," he snickered, "I have friends."

"Friends?" Bluebeard muttered in surprise.

And suddenly out of nowhere a huge mass of people jumped in from the trees on the side lines. They were closely around twenty. They were all dressed in similar black suits. Almost all of them carried weapons with them. Some brought daggers, while a few had crowbars, and a few carried chains, the rest carried knuckle dusters, baseball bats and what not.

"Dude, we're in trouble!" Ryuunosuke exclaimed, running towards Bluebeard for cover.

Either of the men was stupefied by the number of people surrounding them. Normally people who come to buy the cup come in small groups of two or three, as directed by their selfish brains. So the situation they were in right now was—to put it simply, befuddling.

"Ara, just take a look at their stupid faces?" A haughty female voice laughed as some of the men in the group moved aside.

A slim figure stood on the side path, at a good height above the road itself. She was clad in a hooded purple robe that screamed medieval. Her eyes and the rest of the face were completely invisible, except for the red lips that carried an arrogant smile.

"Y-You are…" the Bluebeard's voice shook.

"The purple witch," she finished as if she wanted the ring of her name bring a dagger down his heart.

Even the ever casual Ryuunosuke looked frightened. Bluebeard however maintained a grim expression rather than that of fear. "It seems even _we_ have fallen in to the wretched traps of Fuyuki mafia, Ryuunosuke."

"What do we do, man?" Ryuunosuke asked, clutching onto Bluebeard's shoulder

"You die," the woman who proclaimed herself a witch spoke. "But of course, only after paying what you did to our men last week."

Ryuunosuke winced at that. He was the one who brought the deal last week. He screwed it up; he cursed himself for being careless.

"Leave this ogre to us, Onee-san," the stout man from earlier said, readying his gun to fire the two.

"Give them deaths fitting of their horrendous deeds," the woman said turning around. "I have somewhere else to go for today. And," she said before leaving. "Make sure you wash that thing before you give it to me."

"Dude," Ryuunosuke said as the woman disappeared along with two other men at her helm. "We're going to die…I hope my guts are beautiful enough to watch." Even though he thought his death was imminent, he still had the same careless look on his face.

"Do you believe in me, Ryuunosuke?" Bluebeard asked, as he clutched onto the cup tightly.

"Of course I do," Ryuunosuke said, a confident smirk on his face. He was scared, yes. But he was with _the_ Bluebeard. There was no way, they'd die so easily.

"Kill them," the stout man ordered.

At once, around five people lunged at the duo with their respective weapons. "Foolish men," Bluebeard muttered. He gritted his teeth, and then—

He tossed the golden chalice high into the sky.

"What the!" The simultaneous exclaims of many people were heard. All twenty pairs of eyes fell on the priceless object that was thrown high into the sky as if it were garbage and was about to land somewhere in the dark lands of Kishima Forest.

"Ryuunosuke!" Bluebeard yelled at the top of his screechy voice. He caught the nearest two men by their necks and lifted them with monstrous strength. He then smashed the two men against another two behind them, effectively creating an opening in the group.

The redhead realized they were about to make the run. He immediately punched the nearest guy on his face, pushed him aside, and ran through the opening Bluebeard created.

"You bastards!" The stout man aimed his gun at the men running down the dark road and fired a couple of shots at them. Much to his annoyance, he didn't know if his bullets hit or not as the two men disappeared into the darkness.

"Damn those dirty crooks!" He stomped his foot against the ground. He turned to the men standing to his right. "What are you looking? Go after them!" He turned to the rest behind him, "Go find that damn cup!"

The chalice that they lost at that moment was never to be found again. Nobody knew what happened to its fate. The chalice moved from one stranger to the other. And whoever touched it, ended up dead. The gruesome hunt that Emiya Kiritsugu had ended ten years ago resumed its pace again at full throttle.

**When Paranoia Twists Fate: It all begins next chapter!**

**This chapter is only an explanation of sorts as for how things had begun. The story will began with an even pacing, starting from next chapter.**

**Next Chapter tentative title: Emiya Shirou, Ally of Justice.**


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